We first visited St. Peter’s Basilica in St. Peter’s Plaza. In the center of the plaza is an obelisk, also known as “The Witness” because it “witnessed” the crucifixion of St. Peter himself. There are multiple fountains inside the plaza that light up at night. Aside from the obelisk and the actual Basilica, there are two semicircular structures that form an embrace around the obelisk, created by our favorite sculptor, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The Basilica is also guarded by Swiss guards, whose uniform consists of colorfully striped parachute pants. 

Within the Basilica, we saw sculptures of multiple figures, including Bernini’s best friend, Christina, queen of Sweden, who left her throne to convert to Catholicism and was never married. In the basement of St. Peter’s there is a crypt built to hold the remains of former religious figures, which includes former popes. It has been referred to as “The City of the Dead”. 

Afterwards we visited Hadrian’s Mausoleum, which was built for Hadrian by Hadrian. The Mausoleum was once used as a military fortress because of its location, with it being very close to St. Peter’s as well as the Vatican. It also has an amazing view of the city of Rome. 

Then, during our trip through the painting galleries of the Vatican Museums we got a quick crash course in art history from the Medieval to Renaissance periods. After passing a 13 foot tall pinecone in the creatively titled Courtyard of the Pine Cone” we were able to see the statue of Laocoon and his sons being killed by twin snakes. The statue depicts a scene from Virgil’s Aeneid that we had read when still at BC. 

Soon we moved on and into the Sistine Chapel and Raphael rooms where we saw the incredible frescos that incorporated Greek, Roman and Biblical  stories. The elaborate details, not only in the characters depicted, but also in the realistic painted draperies and columns were stunning to behold. One especially notable feature would be Michelangelo’s self portrait on the wall of the chapel that took the form of an empty sack of skin as well as the Sybil of Cumae (whose caves we visited on the first day) and her incredibly buff arms. 

Later that evening we went a restaurant with a basement set into the remnants of the walls of the theater of Pompey on the ides of March (March 15) roughly 2063 years after Caesar’s assassination and then performed the murder scene from Shakespeare’s play. 

Buona notte!

Sita and Lauren